Parrikar-Rahul flies political comments over Rafale deal

Ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Wednesday accused Rahul Gandhi of using their courtesy meeting for "petty political gains" by making a "false statement" on the Rafale issue, prompting the Congress chief to assert that he did not speak on details of their conversation and claim that the BJP leader was "under pressure". A political row has erupted after Gandhi told Congress workers in Kochi Wednesday - hours after meeting Parrikar in Goa - that the former defence minister had said that he had nothing to do with the Rafale fighter jet deal.

BJP leaders, including party president Amit Shah, attacked Gandhi, with Shah charging him with "lying" in the name of a person fighting disease and claiming that people of India are "disgusted by your reckless behaviour". In a message addressed to Parrikar and posted on his social media accounts, the Congress president asserted that in his speeches following their meeting, he has said what was already in the public domain.

"My visit to you was strictly personal and driven purely by my empathy for your situation... I have not shared any details of my conversation with you when we met in Goa yesterday. In my two speeches since we met, I have referred to what is already in the public domain," he said. Gandhi's response came after Parrikar wrote a hard-hitting letter targeting him.

Noting that there was no mention of Rafale in their five-minute meeting, Parrikar asked Gandhi not to use his visit to an ailing person to "feed political opportunism". Paying a courtesy visit and then stopping so low to make a false statement for petty political gains has raised in his mind questions about sincerity and purpose of the visit, the Goa chief minister said.

He said he felt let down that Gandhi used this visit for his petty political gains as the five minutes they spent together, neither did the Congress president said anything about Rafale nor did they discuss anything related to it. "Here I am fighting against a life-threatening illness. Due to my training and ideological strength, I wish to serve Goa and its people against any/all odds. I thought your visit would give me your good wishes in that cause of serving our people. Little did I know that you had other intentions," Parrikar wrote.

Asking Gandhi to put forth the truth about their visit, he said, "Kindly do no use your visit to an ailing person to feed political opportunism." In his response, Gandhi said he was "disturbed" that the letter Parrikar supposedly wrote to him was leaked to the media before he had a chance to read it.

"Parrikar Ji, I empathise with your situation. I understand the immense pressure you are under after our meeting yesterday. The pressure that has forced you to take the highly unusual step of demonstrating your loyalty to the PM and his cronies by attacking me in this uncharacteristic manner," he said. Insisting that his comments on the Rafale purchase were drawn from what is already in the public domain, Gandhi said it is a fact that in April 2015, when Parrikar was inaugurating a fish market in Goa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the deal in France.

"It is also a fact that you clearly stated to the press that you had no idea about the new deal engineered by the PM. This has been widely reported in all sections of the media," he added. The Congress leader said he would have normally refrained from this exchange but has been forced to clarify his position on this unfortunate and unnecessary controversy due to Parrikar's leaked letter.